Maricopa Ariz. School Wins $100,000 Technology Prize

The work of 35 young scientists, researchers and videographers has won a Maricopa middle school a $100,000 technology package.

Desert Wind Middle School beat out more than 1,500 U.S. schools in Samsung's Solve for Tomorrow contest. Schools were asked to show, in a two-minute video, how science or math can help the environment in their community.

Maricopa, about 35 miles south of Phoenix, has some of the most polluted air in the nation. The students' project showed how dust from nearby farmland blows into Maricopa's neighborhoods and puts children, the elderly and people with breathing problems at risk.

Principal Joseph Veres said the project gave students a chance to learn in a new way. "It allowed everybody to kind of come out of their box a little bit and try new things," he said.

The bulk of the work -- filming, researching and editing -- was done in January and took about two weeks.